Hiking on the Great Wall of China

I've now completed the Shanghai portion of the trip and we left for Beijing on a nine hour train from Shanghai.

I must say that the train station in Shanghai was one of the nicest and newest train stations I've ever seen. Everything was really modern and clean. The trains were comfortable, and the seats had lots of legroom. It was much better then I had imagined.

Train platform in Shanghai

Comfy for the ride

 Our first stop in Beijing was to visit the Great Wall of China.

A lot of tourists will typically go to Badaling, a section of the Great Wall that’s closest to Beijing but luckily we had Auntie Janet's cousin bring us to a more interesting part of the wall where we were free to explore on our own. Jinshanling is a part of the wall that has appeared in numerous films and TV sequences. The first part of the wall was very well maintained but soon, we begin to see more imperfect parts of the wall.

Lots of crumbled walls and incomplete sections

 But it was great to get away from the crowds of Beijing and really spend some time exploring the Great Wall of China.

On a clear day, you can see for miles

 It was quite dangerous climbing the wall since there were many high and uneven steps and it began to snow while we started climbing.

Broken, jagged, slippery steps

The climb itself wasn't too physically taxing, there were lots of flat-ish sections for us to walk. Going down was more awful since it was so slippery.

Of course since this is China, you can get food everywhere. I found a local selling coffee, tea and snacks on the Great Wall.

Good selection of items too

Of course I had to try a cup of coffee!

Good way to stay warm too

 On our way back, we met another local farmer who was selling souvenirs on the wall. She was extremely fit for a 60 year old and even helped some of us come down on the more steep parts.

Here's a picture of her trying to give us directions

Overall, it was an amazing experience to get to climb the Great Wall of China. I'm happy to say this is another item off of the bucket list.

Gotta leave my mark on the wall :)

 Thanks for reading everyone!